Former senior official gets death for graft
By Liu Li (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-12-16 05:59

The former head of the top advisory body of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province was yesterday sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting 7.02 million yuan (US$875,000) in bribes.

Han Guizhi. [Xinhua file]

In the Chinese legal system, a death sentence with a two-year reprieve routinely ends up being commuted to life in jail.

The Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court found that from 1993 to 2003, Han Guizhi, former chairwoman of the Heilongjiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), accepted bribes from many officials, including Ma De, former Party secretary of Suihua in Heilongjiang.

In July, Ma was also sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes worth 6 million yuan (US$740,000) from 1992 to 2002.

Han took advantage of her posts including deputy Party secretary of Heilongjiang; and vice-director and, later, director of the Organization Department of the provincial Party committee to promote the bribe givers.

All the illicit money paid to her has been recovered, the court said.

Han could have been immediately executed based on the amount of the bribes she accepted.

However, given that she had confessed to some bribery cases which the prosecuting bodies had not discovered, owned up to all the crimes she committed and returned the bribes, she was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve. She has been deprived of political rights forever and all her personal assets have been confiscated.

Born in 1943, Han was appointed a standing committee member and Organization Department director of the Heilongjiang provincial Party committee in 1996. She became deputy Party secretary of Heilongjiang in 1997. Han was elected to the top post in the provincial advisory body in 2002 and was re-elected the following year.

Han was removed from her posts in June last year, and expelled from the Party in November last year.

Professor Ma Huaide, president of the Law School of China University of Political Science and Law, told China Daily yesterday that the death sentence reflects the central government's determination to fight corruption.

"The message is clear, all corrupt officials, no matter how high their rank, will be punished," he said.

But Ma said the fight against corruption is a long and arduous task.

Han is not the first high-ranking official from Heilongjiang who has been charged with corruption.

Tian Fengshan, former Land and Resources Minister and governor of Heilongjiang, went on trial on Tuesday in Beijing for accepting bribes.

(China Daily 12/16/2005 page1)